The Paddingtons
First Comes First

What happens when a musical genre begins to gain traction in the United Kingdom? Obviously, everyone follows it, with more or less successful results. We are talking about post-punk. First came The Libertines, then followed by The Others, Razorlight, Futurheads, Art Brut, The Rakes. Then The Libertines broke up, and the mediocre Babyshambles were born. Lastly came their friends The Paddingtons, strictly with the “The” in front of the name. Almost all these names have produced good and less good things, yet they remained within the bounds of decency. Among these, we can also count The Paddingtons, a rock’n’roll band from North East England led by singer Tom Paddington with a voice somewhat similar to that of Nikola Sarcevic from Millencolin. A very important collaboration is also with a certain Owen Morris, the producer of Definitely Maybe, the first masterpiece of Oasis's career.

Just over half an hour that's engaging, captivating, and edgy, but not very original. Already from the opening of "Some Old Girls," it feels like chewing the same dough eaten in recent years (see the names mentioned above). Everything sounds familiar, yet it's a pleasantly familiar, enjoyable, and listenable sound. Just like the recent The Rakes, The Paddingtons follow the post-punk trend so dear to the English press (NME above all), ready to praise every “next big thing” just emerging from a British basement. Listening to "First Come First," "Worse For Wear," and the splendid "Panic Attack" (in which the singer of Millencolin truly seems to be heard), one realizes that these Paddingtons deserve more attention than the British press is giving to the debut of Babyshambles, which is far from decent. Almost all tracks have a fairly sustained pace, without significant drop-offs, as in the best post-punk tradition. And in the best post-punk tradition, the album lasts just 33 minutes.

I don’t know if we’ll still remember them in ten years, I don’t know if they'll make one, two, or ten records, the only certainty is that this "First Comes First" is an album that deserves attention, despite . The rest time will tell us, as always, indeed. In the end, with emerging bands (especially those hyped by NME), it’s not wise to bet too heavily. You risk getting severely burned.